Tool for handling wire.



Patented June 1, 1915.

a aw i r R. H. NORTON.

TOOL FOR HANDLING WIRE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10, 1912. 1 1mm THE NORRIS PETERS CO.,PIIOTDJJTHOU WASHIJGTON. D. C.

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RALPH II. NORTON, on cnIcAeo, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 ACME STEEL GoonsCOMPANY, or cnrcneo, ILLINoIs, A CORPORATION on ILLINOIS.

TOOL FOR HANDLING WIRE.

innea.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June I, IQ3I5.

Application filed January 10, 1912. Serial No. 670,394.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH H. NORTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Tool for Handling Wire, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to a tool which is designed and particularlyadapted for use in binding together with wire box shocks or otherpackages of boards or strips of lumher, and it Will. therefore bedescribed and explained with reference to such use, although it will beseen that the tool has considerable general utility for other purposesas well.

The object of the invention is the provision of a grasping handle whichmay be readily applied to a wire and which is equipped with convenientmeans for instantly gripping and releasing it, and which therefore maybe quickly applied or shifted to grip the wire at any desired point andenables the user to manipulate it in binding up a shook with thegreatest possible facility, and without discomfort to the hands.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section(partly in elevation) on the line 11 of Fig. 3; Fig. 2 a similar view onthe line 2-2 of Fig. 3; Fig. 3 a transverse section on the line 3-3 ofFig. 1; and Fig. 4 a view showing the manner in which the tool isdesigned to be used.

The body or casing of the tool, preferably made of aluminum, to attainstrength and lightness, comprises a central grasping or handle portionA, which, at what will be termed the lower end, is provided with a hardsteel bushing 13 having a rounded orilice. Extending from the handle atthe opposite, or upper end, are a pair of fiat.

end plates C C, between which are mounted the gripping elements of thetool, consisting of a hard steel roller D, and a hard steel slidingplate E having a serrated inner edge opposite such roller. The outeredge of said sliding plate is formed with a cam surface coacting with ahard steel roller F, and a compression spring, seated in a cylindricalchamber formed in the top of said plate and surrounding a pin projectingfrom a partition block G, tends to press said sliding plate downwardlyand, through the action of the cam surface thereof on the roller F,toward the roller D. A pivoted release lever II, operated manually bythe projecting tall piece thereof, and at its inner end engaging a notchin the sliding plate E,

serves to enable the user to slide the plate against the stress of itsspring and away from the roller D. A partition block I serves to closethe space between the plates C above the roller D and opposite the blockG, the wire way lying between such block and the roller D on one side,and the sliding plate E on the other.

It is obvious that with the construction described, when the lever II isoperated the wire may be readily inserted downwardly through the toolbetween the sliding plate E and roller D, and that when the lever isreleased any strain tending to pull the wire downwardly through the toolwill only serve to jam the sliding plate more tightly between the rollerF and the wire, and thus more securely hold the latter.

It may be briefly explained that in the work for which the tool isdesigned, a shook or set of boards is secured together by a pair ofwires, each secured together at its ends by a flat malleable fastenerwhich is transversely bent at right angles and provided with suitablenotches or perforations upon each wing for securing the wire thereto.The tool having been threaded upon the wire (conveniently carried uponan elevated spool), the end is secured to one wing of a fastener locatedat an edge of the shook and then carried around the shook under asstrong tension as can be exerted, and secured to the other wing of thefastener, and the wire clipped for a succeeding tie. By means of mydevice the grip on the wire may be readily shifted, the wire may bedrawn strongly without cutting the hands, and the wire fastened bycoiling it around the upstanding notched lug with which the ordinaryform of fastener is provided with the greatest facility by a quickcircular movement of the lower end of the tool around such lug, the lugbeing then hammered down and the wire severed.

I claim:

1. A tool of the character described comprising a casing exteriorlyforming a handle and having a wire way extending longitudinallytherethrough, a spring-pressed gripping plate formed with a cam surfacemounted to slide in said casing adjacent said 7 vided with a camsurface, a roller mounted in said casing and arranged to coact with saidcam surface onthe sliding plate to 3. A tool of the character describedcomprising a casing having a handle portion and a pair of end plates, aspring-pressed sliding gripping plate mounted between said end plates,said gripping plate being provided with serrations upon one edge andRALPH H. NORTON.

Witnesses:

ELLIOTT S. NORTON, HOWARD B. FREOK.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' 'Washington, .D. 6.

